Vampire Myth
by Kiersa
Summary: Zero goes through Hell before he can work out what he really wants: Yuki. ZeroxYuki. Rated for safety's sake. So far...
1. Lust

**Vampire Myth  
- Lust -**

Hello, and welcome to my crazy obsession with Vampire Knight & The Seven Deadly Sins

This first chapter I wrote so long ago. I didn't even know what I was writing at the time. Like most of my musings, I just felt the need to write, and this is what came out.  
It wasn't until months later, while bored and waiting for a video to load (I had exceeded my download limit, you see. Yes, tragic, I know) I started going through old stories. This is something I tend to do often, go through old stories. And seeing how I had labelled it 'Lust' at the time gave me the Seven Deadly Sins idea.

Each chapter will be dedicated to a Deadly Sin (I don't know if that's actually a proper noun there. Better safe than sorry, though), and Zero will feel each sin for which the chapter is named.  
Obviously there will be seven chapters.

This story is for Zero.  
I'm not sure how it will end up, whether he gets Yuki in the end, or loses her.  
As much as I love writing angst, I also seem to have a tendency for romance.  
Who knows which love of mine will win out in the end. I certainly don't. Hopefully I will by the time it's finished, though..

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vampire Knight, or any of the characters in the following story. Which is probably for the best, seeing as I can't make up my mind for how things should go.  
**Warnings:** Angst (how very Zero), nakedness, 'mature' discussion.

* * *

The pain gripped him around the chest, squeezing his lungs so that it was almost impossible to draw a breath. And the steam from the warm shower was definitely not helping.

The silver-haired teen grasped, _clawed_, at his chest, as the shower pummelled water down his back and the bloodlust threatened to overtake all his senses. His large hands moved to his throat as the pain spread and intensified, his knees weakening and wanting to give way. Now was not the time for an attack, not when it was just he and Yuki all alone on the school grounds.

Finally succumbing to his trembling legs, Zero sank to the slippery tiled floor of the shower, his hands still about his throat as if he could stop the pain from spreading. His fangs had already come down in his mouth, and he could just imagine his eyes taking on the red hue of one in the throes of bloodlust.

Hunched against the wall, the teen squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight the urge to find sustenance. He knew that down the hall was a sweet girl, a caring girl, a girl who would bare her neck without barely a moment's hesitation should Zero approach her. But with the Chairman away for the evening, and the school completely empty due to the winter holidays, there was the chance that if he took too much from her she could fall very ill.

He knew his breaths were uneven and ragged, knew that his body was covered in sweat despite the water constantly washing it away. And most of all, he knew he could not fight it.

Violently, Zero pushed himself from the ground and barely had time to open the glass shower door before he stumbled through it. Reaching the sink against the opposite wall, the boy pushed against the mirror, causing it to swing open – much too slowly for his own liking – and reveal a hidden in-built medicine cabinet. Hand flying blindly in, it quickly found the small black and red pill box, and returned the object to its owner.

Barely aware of what he was doing, Zero extracted two blood tablets from within the box and shoved them roughly into his mouth. Unable to swallow them dry, he twisted the tap on the sink and placed his mouth under the jet of cool water spilling from there to help down the tablets.

Once the small chalky objects had been swallowed, Zero perched himself on the edge of the bathtub, forgetting all about the shower spewing warm water straight down the drain. He held his face in his hands, willing the tablets to stay down. If they would only stay down, maybe he could stop stealing from Yuki, like some terrible monster.

After a few minutes the tablets appeared to cooperate with his body for once, and the ex-human straightened his back and folded his hands in his lap, cautiously checking his body mentally for any signs that he was going to expel the tablets from his stomach. No, it seemed okay.

Getting shakily to his feet, Zero reached into the shower and twisted the taps, ceasing the flow of the water. But, as he leaned back out of the shower and reached for his towel hanging about the rack on the wall next to it, he felt his stomach clench and push upwards, and with it the strange sensation of liquid coming back up.

Shooting to the toilet, the silver-haired teen only just had enough time to grasp the edges of the porcelain bowl as the blood tablets, and his dinner, spewed forth from his mouth. Coughing and spluttering, Zero crouched down beside the toilet, hoping it to be over, but knowing from past experiences that it was far from over.

After a few more violent outbursts from his stomach, Zero sat weakly on the floor, the powerful pull back in his throat again, his elongated fangs throbbing painfully in his mouth. This was no way to live, he thought numbly.

"Zero?" came a sweet voice through the door as it followed a gentle knock, and the boy on the floor groaned. Oh god, Yuki. Anyone but Yuki.

"Are you okay? You've been in there for a while. And I... I thought I heard you being sick?" The concern was plain in her voice, but Zero could not bring himself to answer, less his voice betray him and show her how much he was thirsting for blood.

"Zero?" she called again, and worry was now overriding the concern. Zero could hear her try the door knob, and silently cursed himself for not thinking to lock it. Not wanting to look at her, he stared at the tiles on the ground, though he could hear her push the door open slowly, and he could hear her gasp as she saw him sitting on the floor naked.

"Oh... I'm sorry!" she quickly said, averting her gaze to a similar tile on the floor that Zero was currently gazing at. "I didn't realise you were... not quite... decent..." she trailed off.

"Go away, Yuki," Zero mumbled tiredly. He was fighting hard the urge to propel from the ground and latch onto the girl's neck standing in the door, and didn't have much energy left to sound angry.

The auburn-haired girl was shocked at the weakness in her friend's voice. "Zero?" she repeated, and instinctively went to her friend, crouching down beside him with a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She was very aware of his nakedness, but tried to ignore it for his sake.

"Yuki, I'm not safe to be around right now," he managed, his voice husky, his red eyes pleading with her to leave. But Yuki only smiled; how many times had he said that he was not safe? And how many times had it proved to not be true? She was relieved to see that his hands were now folded in his lap and offering brief protection to his nudity, though.

"Zero, do you need blood?" she asked softly, and got a groan in reply as Zero dipped his head to look away from her tantalising neck. "Zero!" she cried more urgently. "You don't need to hesitate, you know that!"

"Yes, I do need to hesitate, Yuki. I really should hesitate." He looked up at her through the curtain his hair was forming across his vision. "But I don't, because I'm a monster."

The small girl surprised both occupants of the bathroom when she slapped the bigger boy. "How many times do I have to keep telling you that you are not a monster?" she demanded.

A hand automatically cupping his lightly stinging cheek, Zero looked at Yuki with wide eyes. "Yuki?"

The girl lowered herself off her haunches onto her knees in front of her friend, releasing his shoulder to pull her t-shirt collar aside. "I want to you drink from me, Zero. And you're not a monster, because it's in your nature. Just like it's in a human's nature to kill animals for food, it's in your nature to drink blood from humans."

"Yuki?" Zero repeated.

"Do it, Zero. I don't mind, so neither should you," Yuki whispered.

Leaning forward, the hunter cupped his hands around the small girls head and shoulder, still gazing intently into her eyes. "Are you sure?" he questioned uncertainly.

Yuki sighed. "I am. I have always been certain, and I always will be."

A grateful sobbed escaped Zero's mouth as he buried his face at Yuki's neck. He hated himself for this, hated that he found it so enticing and wonderful when he did it. But he continued. His tongue licked the familiar bite area, prepping it for his fangs' penetration, slightly numbing the area so his 'victim' would feel little pain. And Yuki shivered in his arms at his tongue's actions, and wrapped her arms around him also, pulling him closer.

Zero could feel his chest pressed against Yuki's, could feel her breathing and ever so slightly, her increased heartbeat. She shifted closer to him in between his legs to make it more comfortable for the both of them, and had Zero been less concerned by his bloodlust her perhaps would have noticed Yuki's soft breasts pressed tenderly on his chest and her knee shockingly close to his exposed length.

All that flooded his mind was blood, and as he bit down, blood then flooded his mouth. Instantly it quelled his agonising thirst, and he moaned into Yuki's neck as he pulled the sweet tasting liquid from there. He couldn't imagine anything ever tasting this good, this satisfying.

Yuki was used to the strange sensation of having your blood pulled from your neck like this, but it still caused her to tense up and instinctively pull Zero closer to her, even though she also felt like pushing him away. But she never could push him away, always holding him tight as he held her back equally as tight, as though they were both drowning, the other being their only saviour.

After Zero had taken just enough to quench his thirst, he tenderly licked Yuki's neck clean, his tongue swiping at the new twin wounds on her neck and urging them to cease bleeding. Now that his bloodlust had been taken care of, he was beginning to become aware of another type of lust. Yuki's small warm body held tightly against his own, very much naked one; her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as he held her back; her delicate body sitting innocently close to his groin.

A new hunger was unfolding, and he could feel the heat pooling in his groin. His licks at her neck turned into light kisses, and he murmured an apology, hoping that she would push him away, but also dreading it. A normal 17 year old boy would have found this exciting, let alone a vampire 17 year old boy who was already stimulated by the intake of blood.

"Anytime, Zero," was all that Yuki whispered back in response to his apology, still holding him against her. She wasn't sure what Zero was doing to her neck, never having kissed her after taking from her, but she did know that she rather enjoyed it. "Zero?" she began tentatively.

"Mmm?" he mumbled against her neck, his kisses moving higher to her jawline.

"Are you okay now?"

"Better than ever," he replied softly, his tongue daring to dart out every now and again. Yuki's skin tasted just as sweet as her blood did, and Zero could not imagine someone as perfect as the selfless girl in front of him.

Yuki shivered every time his tongue caressed the sensitive skin of her jaw, and she was increasingly aware of the direction his kisses were taking. She knew she should stop this, but she didn't want to. And the suspense of the kiss she knew was going to inevitably happen was unbearable. "Zero?"

"Mmm?"

"Would you... would you stop that, and... and kiss me?" she asked tentatively.

Zero pulled his head back, his eyes unreadable as he looked at her face. A million reasons ran through his head as to why he should say no; she was his sister, even if only an adopted one; Zero was currently stark naked, and his arse was starting to get cold on the tiles; Zero was currently naked, holding a girl he very much cared for in his arms, and that was dangerous territory for any boy; Zero was naked, and it was very inappropriate for him to be sitting in the same room with another girl as such; pretty much a lot of it stemmed from him currently being naked.

But, he did not voice these things, did not say no. Instead, he found himself saying, "Why?" He didn't say the above things because he found he very much wanted to grant her wish, and kiss Yuki.

Yuki gave a frustrated sigh. "Because it seems like what you were going to do anyway!" She loosened her grip around his waist and sat back a little. "Look, if you don't want to, you don't have to. I just thought it would be nice!" Yuki looked as if she was going to stand, so Zero tightened his grip around her shoulders to prevent her from moving.

"I never said I didn't want to," he said quietly, and Yuki flushed pink at his words. "I just... I guess I just want to make sure it's what you want."

She smiled warmly at him. "And, I guess that I do want you to."

"Then that's all I need," he spoke just as quietly as before, and lowered his head slowly so their lips almost met. His gaze never left her eyes, always judging her and looking for any hesitation. If he saw any hesitation, no matter how much he wanted to kiss her, he would immediately pull away. The last thing he wanted to do was to shock and hurt Yuki.

But all he saw in her wide brown eyes was anticipation, and his eyes closed shut as soon as his lips touched delicately upon hers. Her lips tasted even sweeter than her skin, and Zero found himself moving his hands to cup her cheeks as he leaned a little more into the kiss. But he wanted more.

Yuki closed her eyes the moment she saw Zero doing the same, and at the same time felt their lips meet, Zero's hands holding her head tenderly. She didn't want to breath, doubted that she even could take a breath if she wanted, and she pulled Zero tighter against her body, needing to feel him pressed warmly to her.

Zero needed more as she pulled him closer, his bare chest pressed tightly against her chest. Automatically tilting his head ever so slightly, he moved his tongue hesitantly and brushed it lightly against her full lower lip, asking for permission to enter, and relishing the soft feeling of the skin under it. At first, Yuki was a little shocked to feel his tongue against her lip, but she slowly parted her lips and felt his tongue now working inside and greeting hers.

The silver-haired teen moaned a little as he discovered that inside Yuki was even sweeter tasting than just her lips, and now her blood had a tough rival for the sweetest tasting thing about her. She was shy about the kiss deepening slightly like this though, and Zero could feel her hesitation. He tried to encourage her to be a little bolder, tried to show her there was nothing to be ashamed of with his tongue, and teased her with it, hoping she would use her tongue to taste him back.

She did. Just a little at first, her tongue meeting his closer to the edge of her mouth, then at the edge of his mouth, and then... another moan from the boy as her tongue finally entered the mouth opposite. Yuki knew she should pull back, stop this kiss, that it was wrong. So many reasons to pull away; Zero was her brother, even if only an adopted one; there was the Chairman to think about, he would not approve of this behaviour from his adopted children; there was Kaname to think about, he definitely would not approve of someone else kissing his Yuki, and definitely not like this; Zero was still naked from after his shower-

Crap! With a little gasp, Yuki pulled away sharply from Zero, her hands quickly dropping from around his bare waist and landing heavily into her lap. The boy in front of her was looking at her with hurt eyes though, and she found herself stammering an apology.

Yuki tried to look away from the stunned look she was getting from Zero as she spoke, but found herself starting at an even more awkward sight. "Zero?" she asked shyly, wanting desperately to look elsewhere, but finding she couldn't tear her eyes away.

Yuki was now even more aware of Zero's nakedness as she continued looking down, seeing that his length was sitting differently between his legs than it had been before when she first came in. It didn't look as hard as she would have suspected something like _that_ to look if he had an erection, but it definitely didn't look... normal. And Yuki scolded herself, demanding to know how she knew what was normal for something like _that_.

Zero caught on quickly at what had caused Yuki to stop her apology, and also dropped his hands from around Yuki's shoulders, resting them on his thighs when he still saw her looking curiously at his semi-hard length. "I'm sorry," he said, slightly ashamed that he had let himself get so worked up over something as trivial as a kiss. "It's ah... because I drank your blood before, I guess," he finished lamely.

The auburn-haired girl blushed lightly as she realised she was still starting at _it_, and forced her eyes up to his. "Does that make a difference?" she asked innocently, to which Zero replied with a groan and ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, even though he knew so. The act of taking blood was a highly intimate one, especially when you already had strong feelings for the donor. And it was easy to get... carried away afterwards. For the vampire, at least.

"But... it looks strange," she said bluntly. "Like it's not sitting quite right."

"Uh... well... that's because... I guess you could say... that..." Zero stumbled for the right words. "You could say that... it's not... properly... up... right now."

Yuki merely frowned at him and his bad explanation, to which Zero sighed at. He wanted nothing more than to hide his face in his hands right now, but forced himself to hold Yuki's gaze. "Look, I can't really explain it, but I guess what this is... is... like a half... erection." He didn't want to say last word. If he was the type of person to blush, he would have been blushing all the way from his head down to his stupid 'half erection'. But Yuki blushed enough for the both of them.

"Oh," was all that she said.

"Yeah... oh," Zero replied stupidly.

"So... why?" Yuki continued to be slightly, even if embarrassingly, curious about this.

Now Zero placed his hands in his lap, trying to regain what little self-respect he had left. "Look, Yuki, I really, _really_, don't want to continue this conversation right now," he said sharply.

"Oh... okay." She remained where she was, still looking at Zero thoughtfully.

"Um... Yuki... do ya think you could leave now? So I can get dressed?"

"Oh! Right! Sorry, Zero!" Yuki hurriedly stood up, straightening out her pleated skirt as she stood up. "Well... just knock on my door when you're finished in here, because I've still got to have a shower."

Once Yuki was safely out of the room, with the door safely closed, Zero finally stood and splashed some cold water on his face from the sink, trying to calm down. In the mirror he looked sternly at the reflection, silently cursing himself for not being able to absorb the blood tablets, and for allowing himself to get so carried away with Yuki. Reaching again for his towel, he wrapped it around his slender waist, and finally pulled open the door, the cold air of the hallway hitting him and succeeding much more than the cold water at calming him down.

He doubted that he could look at Yuki again for the longest time, and suspected she would also have trouble meeting his eye as well.

* * *

Good for you. You read the whole way through. *gives gold star*

I'm still not sure what sin to use next. Feel free to send suggestions my way.  
But be aware that I am thinking of using Greed and Gluttony at the end. And this is Lust. So you only really have four choices.

For the people who are normal and not like me, and need to look up the Seven Deadly Sins, the other four are:  
Wrath.  
Pride.  
Envy.  
Sloth.

That's to save you having to look it up.  
'Cause I'm nice like that.


	2. Sloth

**Vampire Myth  
- Sloth -**

This chapter is a bit all over the shop. It was really quite difficult to write. I changed my mind about three times while writing this. Maybe even four. It was hard to pinpoint on how being lazy was affecting Zero's life. But I did get some good ideas off people, and also got some more direction when I read some information on the sin that is sloth to help my get out of the slump that I was in. I apologise for it's shitness. And for making up words, like shitness. At least, I'm fairly certain that that is a non-word.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, or any of the following characters in this story. If I did, do you really think I'd use this site to publish??  
**Warnings:** Nothing much. But there is a rather nasty swear towards the end of this chappie.

* * *

It had been almost a week since that awkward feeding in the bathroom. Yuki and Zero had acted much the same towards each other, but even if no one else could see the slight hesitation between them, they could.

He felt bad. If only he could restrain himself better, then she needn't have been exposed to that sort of thing. She was only 16, after all; much too young in his opinion, and probably in the Chairman's and Kuran's opinions too.

Zero knew he should probably talk to her. But every time they were alone and he thought about bringing it up, he found that he couldn't. What if she said that what they do on a regular basis was wrong, and that they should stop? There was the obvious consequence that Zero would not be fed and sink to Level E, that same old story. But then there was the other consequence, one that was much more daunting to Zero: he would no longer be able to hold Yuki against him as his head was nuzzled in her throat, he would no longer be able feel close to her.

He smirked at the irony of it; the thing that held them close together was the one thing that was probably going to drive them apart.

"What are you smiling at?" Yuki's soft voice asked, a playful tone behind it. As the week had progressed, they had slowly become more comfortable around each other again.

They were sitting against a tree near the Moon Dorms, having chosen this position as the best one to have a sit down in the early hours of the morning before the Night Class headed back to their dorm.

"I'm not smiling," he quickly said.

Yuki chuckled. "Of course not. Zero does not smile," she teased.

He huffed, crossed his arms and continued staring in front of him, acting as if that last comment was some form of offensive. But inside his heart leapt; he loved the sound of his name as it fell from her lips.

Emitting a soft sigh, Yuki brought her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees as she cradled herself. Zero allowed himself a brief glance over at her, and felt his breath catch in his throat.

The pale light of the moon was bathing her in a soft silvery glow, her skin almost glowing and contrasting against her dark hair, which seemed black in the light. She looked so peaceful at this very moment, lost in her own thoughts. Now was not the time to worry her by talking about what happened last week. He'd always have another opportunity later on.

He looked closer at her, at the way her hair fell over her face, obscuring it a little from his view. He saw the way her small body curled so easily and casually up into itself. Her neck curved so beautifully from her shoulders to her head.

His breath hitched again, but this time from a slightly different thing. It had been a week since he had last tasted the crimson liquid flowing through Yuki's veins, and as each day progressed, he was finding it harder to concentrate on the things around him and block out the constant feeling of need for blood.

But it was harmful to Yuki, and even though now there were no obvious signs of constantly being bitten there, eventually it had to be damaging to her neck and soft skin.

Zero sighed in frustration, subconsciously stiffening his body, and turned away to look out over at the moon dorms. He had to fight it for as long as possible; it just wasn't fair to her.

"Zero?" Yuki called softly to him. He only grunted in reply, so she continued, "How are you feeling? It's probably about that time again, yeah?"

Zero silently cursed himself. She must have noticed his sudden change in position, and she was just too damned perceptive. Of course she would realise that he needed blood. "It's okay," he mumbled, not looking at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"You just look a little tense, and it was a week ago that you last... you know." She still seemed to be a little embarrassed by it.

"I told you, I'm fine," he replied brusquely, not allowing himself to look at her lest his eyes gave away his inner turmoil.

"Fine," Yuki replied, sounding a little miffed at his tone.

The two sat in silence for a little bit longer, Zero staring unseeing before him, trying to ignore the thirst burning in his throat, and Yuki trying not to seem too bothered by the rude way Zero had brushed away her concern before, before Yuki looked at her watch and sighed. "Come on, we better head over to the classrooms, it's time the Night Class go back to the dorms," she said, standing up and smoothing out her uniform.

Without saying a word, or a glance in her direction, Zero stood and walked in the direction of the classrooms. Yuki sighed again, before following. Sometimes that boy was so hard to read.

**

The next day in class he couldn't concentrate. Normally he could use school work as a distraction, but today they were currently going over things they had already covered to make sure the rest of the students understood, and Zero had nothing to focus on considering he understood this fine when they did it the first time around.

He glanced over at Yuki and saw her head resting on her arms against her desk. Why did the girl feel the need to sleep so much? Zero could manage to get enough sleep, as well as keeping on top of his school work, so how did she not manage to do either?

He shut his eyes as he realised with a pang that it probably wasn't lack of sleep causing her to sleep more often than normal. It was probably blood loss, taken from her by one of the people she trusted the most.

Opening his eyes again and looking over at her back as it rose and fell softly in time with her breathing, Zero found himself torn. He couldn't stand that he had to keep stealing from her. It didn't matter that she seemed to willing to do it, it just wasn't right. He felt as if he were using her. But what would he have to hold her close to him otherwise? If there was no need to feed his disgusting urges, there would be no need for her to hang around. She'd certainly be off with Kuran, the pureblood obviously having more appeal than Zero. Even if Zero weren't this despicable creature that he was, Kuran would surely still come out on top. He had better looks, he had more money, he had more friends, and he had more power. He was more confident, more charismatic and he was just nicer to be around.

Zero was just plain good for nothing, and he suspected that he wasn't the best company. That just made Zero feel worse, and he then pushed people away even further.

Was it unfair of Zero to keep taking from Yuki, when she wasn't getting anything in return? Was it selfish of him to know that deep down he enjoyed it, that he cherished it, and so that was why he was not too determined to stop?

Zero knew he should stop. And he knew he would stop, if it just wasn't so damned hard. When the blood lust set in, it was as if everyone around had the volume on their pulse turned up. He could hear the gentle rhythms of the sweet, sticky substance coursing through the veins, through their bodies, through their neck. He could hear the heart pound away, pushing litres of it around their bodies. It was like making an alcoholic who had only been sober for a short period of time take a tour of the local brewery, not allowing them to touch or taste the intoxicating substance they were constantly surrounded by.

He stole another look at the slumbering Yuki. Her head had turned slightly in the past few minutes, and her hair had slipped off her neck, revealing the smooth creamy skin that Zero was so familiar with by now. If he focused, he could even see the pulse of her jugular as it carried all that sweet liquid that was Yuki's blood.

His breathing quickening, Zero swallowed visibly, almost audibly. He wanted to look away, he knew he should look away, but... he wanted to keep looking, he couldn't look away.

Thankfully Yori prodded Yuki in the shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. Glancing at his watch, Zero could see there was only five minutes of the lesson to go before lunch. His stomach clenched in anticipation. Yuki would know immediately what he needed when she looked at him. One side of him screamed to get away before Yuki could have a chance to pick up that he was off, while the other begged to make sure he hung around, and maybe even get Yuki into a quiet room.

As it was, he didn't get to decide that for himself anyway. Yuki glanced up at him just as the teacher was wrapping up the lesson, and it was immediately apparent that she noticed the look on his face. She offered a kind smile at him, to which Zero only returned a scowl, and then she turned back around to place her things back into her bag.

As the class were filing out Yuki quickly got up and began heading over to his direction with a determined look on her face. Zero tried to avoid her and her gaze, but found her small hand wrapped around his forearm anyway. Once out of the classroom and in the hall, Zero tried to rip his arm away from her and storm off in the opposite direction, but her little hand held fast.

"No, Zero. You're not going to get away that fast. And don't try and tell me you're fine. It's quite obvious that you're not"

"Yuki," Zero said, almost in a pleading way. "Just leave me alone." He felt as if he couldn't fight it for much longer.

"No!"

A few straggling students gave them some strange looks, and quickly hurried off, but Zero didn't care. Even Yuki's pulse sounded like the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard, especially at this close proximity.

He gave her another pleading look.

"You're just being overly stubborn about this. It's not a big deal," she said softly, reassuringly grabbing his hand in both of her own.

Zero sighed and lowered his head. He could reiterate to Yuki all the things that made this a big deal, but she's heard it all before, and it hasn't managed to stop her yet. He knew that he'd just be wasting his breath. And of course, there was always that shameful fear of her one day actually taking his advice to stop this.

He felt Yuki let go of his hand and he looked back up carefully. "Could we use the classroom?" Yuki was back at the door of the room speaking to their teacher. "It's just that I'm still having a bit of trouble with the work," she said sheepishly. "Now is the best time for Zero to help explain it a bit more, because otherwise we have to perform our prefect duties, or Zero misses out on doing his own homework."

The teacher glanced at the obviously distressed boy, and even though she suspected they wanted the classroom for something other than school (though she'd never figure the real reason), she gave a kind smile and pushed the door back open. "It's all yours. Don't work all through lunch, though," she warned.

"Oh no, we won't. I won't wanna do work for that long anyway," Yuki laughed, stepping inside.

"And no eating in there," was the final reply from the teacher as she walked away, obviously keen on getting to the staff room for her own lunch.

"No Miss!" Yuki turned and looked at Zero, a bright smile on her face. "Hurry up, nothing's going to get done if you stay out there."

She waited in the doorway as Zero walked through, and then turned to shut the door. As she turned back around again, her fingers already working at the buttons on her school jacket, Zero knocked into her and pinned Yuki against the door, one arm supporting him, the other hurriedly pulling the uniform aside from her neck. Unable to get the buttons undone fast enough, Zero roughly knocked her hands away and tore at them himself. His senses were going crazy; the sound of her pulse, the feel of her skin, the way her pulse made her veins jump, and the underlying scent of her blood. His fangs were painfully elongating in the anticipation of sinking into Yuki, his throat burning as it thirsted for her blood.

Dipping his head, Zero eagerly breathed in deeply the smell that was Yuki. If asked to describe what that scent was, Zero would have vaguely shrugged his shoulders and answered that it was Yuki smell. It was the combined scents of her skin, blood, sweat, and emotions flowing through her. It was completely unique, unmatched to anything else.

He raked his tongue across her skin, running it up from her collar bone to the spot where he normally sinks his fangs in. Yuki shivered under him, her arms grasping at his shoulders and unconsciously pulling him closer. She even had her own unique taste, a taste that usually made Zero come undone. How could possibly ever stop all this? After that first taste he had become hooked, as if she were a drug. As much as he didn't like to keep doing this, he didn't think that he could easily stop it.

Unable to take the anticipation anymore, Zero opened his mouth wide, a little growl tearing from his throat right before he sank his teeth deeply inside the neck before him. Yuki gasped as her skin was pierced, and also a little from hearing that growl. He had never made a noise like that before, and it was so primal sounding, so desperate and seductive... Yuki couldn't help feel her pulse speed up a little at the noise.

As he sucked greedily from her neck, Zero relaxed the pressure on Yuki that was currently holding her pinned fast to the door, and the hand that had been holding her clothing aside dropped and held onto her waist instead. The sweet liquid filled his mouth, filled his senses and his entire being. It gushed into his mouth, over his tongue and down his throat, filling not only his stomach, but the void in his heart. He loved being this close to Yuki, holding her tightly in his arms, supporting her, but using her as a way to support himself also. He felt like maybe he wasn't such the horrible monster he actually was.

He needed more contact. Zero pushed her hard against the door again, repositioning himself slightly on a bit more of an angle to allow him better access to her neck. His hand which had been propped against the door by her head was now uncomfortable there, so it joined its partner on the other side of Yuki's waist.

Zero knew he'd never grow tired of the blood in his mouth, of the way Yuki moved against him when he fed or of the way her pulse invariably sped up and her breathing increased.

Eventually, Zero slid his fangs free, and carefully cleaned away any remaining blood on Yuki's perfect skin, encouraging the punctures he created there to also disappear without a trace. He hated the thought that he was marring such beautiful skin.

Then he stopped. Yuki expected him to pull away after he had finished cleaning up, but she was taken by surprise when he instead wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into an awkward hug, and burying his face even further into her neck. "I'm so sorry, Yuki," he mumbled.

"I know. You don't have to keep apologising," Yuki soothed, her hand going to the back of his head to comfort him.

Zero pushed away roughly, turning to the side and holding his face in his hands. He gave in again. Just yesterday he was so determined to hold back, to try and fight this, and the moment he was given an opportunity, he jumped at it so fast. He slumped into a chair, his elbows resting on the desk in front of it, tears of anger actually beginning to well in his eyes. He was pathetic, he was hopeless. He couldn't even control himself, no matter how much he tried. There was always something deeper in him that compelled him to steal from Yuki. He was such a monster that no one was safe around him.

"Zero?" Yuki called tentatively, and he could hear her step away from the door and towards him. "Zero, are you okay?"

He ignored her, and it wasn't until she put a hand on his shoulder that he angrily shrugged it off and glared into her face. "Just leave, Yuki!"

She saw that his eyes had been moistened by tears and gasped. "Zero?!" she cried, and moved to touch him again.

"No!" he yelled, standing up quickly and angrily swiping at the few tears that had escaped. "What are you still doing here? How can you even stand to be around me?" he shouted, not really angry at her, but taking out his anger at himself on her anyway. "I can't even fucking control myself, and yet you still insist on staying by my side!"

Yuki looked shocked. She had taken an involuntary step backwards, and her hands were clasped together over her chest. Zero was yelling at her?

He fell back down into the chair, a dejected expression on his face. He pure hated himself. The most loving, giving person in his life, who meant more to him than anyone else, and he had just yelled at her. She gave and gave to him, and all he ever did was take. And what happened just now was like spitting in her face.

She moved back to him, cautiously putting her hands on his shoulders. When he didn't react this time, she sunk to her knees and pulled him into a hug, stroking the back of his head. "Zero, it's okay, I accept you for all that. That's how I can still be with you, because I don't blame you for anything. I don't care what you say, I don't care what you do; you're my friend, and I'll always be here to help you when you need it. Because that's what friends do."

Zero relented, and blew out a heavy sigh. He really didn't deserve a friend like Yuki.

* * *

I'm glad that's over and done with. I must have been sitting on this chapter for like two months?

But did you like the cliche about her being the drug? Yeah, I thought I'd be all corny and pathetic and so I threw it on in there for shits and giggles XD

I'm hoping the next few chapters will be much better to write, because I've got a lot more direction for where they're going to go. I actually wrote a plan. I know, how smart of me.


	3. Envy

**Vampire Myth  
- Envy -**

Yay for updates!  
I got a really good roll with this. I just sat down, and the whole thing spewed out in a couple of hours.  
And I think I'm pretty satisfied with this chappy, too. Which is good, considering I was hating on the previous one so much when I was writing it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vampire Knight, nor any of the characters in the following stroy. I take no responsibility for anything that happens :P

* * *

Zero was sitting under the shade of a big tree, picking moodily at blades of grass. The sun was almost set and some Day Class students were already beginning to converge around the gates of the large and extravagant Moon Dorms. Every now and again he'd shoot a glare at some girls who had gotten too loud and they would quickly settle down, leaving Zero to wonder why they felt the need to act in such a way.

He was already in a bad mood, dreading the school dance the following evening, and he was not looking forward to tonight; once the Night Class emerged from those gates the girls standing out the front of them were just going to go insane.

Some new girls came running past, their high pitched squealing causing Zero to wince. "Hey, shut the hell up!" he yelled after them. The girls quickly slowed to a walk, throwing a mixture of annoyed and shameful glances over their shoulders at him.

Zero sighed and looked over at Yuki who was standing in front of the gates with her hands on her hips and a little scowl on her face. If he wasn't surrounded by these immature girls, and didn't have to keep up the 'Don't Mess with Me' persona just to keep them in line, he would have smiled at the look. She was trying to be intimidating, but it just wasn't working on her.

More girls were arriving now, and the lights over the gates had come on. Sighing, Zero pushed himself to his feet and joined Yuki between the growing crowd of Day Class students and the gates. And once there, he did a much better job at scowling at the throng of girls in front of him than Yuki was doing.

As the crowd grew, so too did the noise. It had to have been worse than Valentine's Day. And now that Zero's hearing was more sensitive than the average human, it was all he could do to not cover his ears or slap some of the screaming girls down.

"Zero!" Yuki called out to him, and pointed a little further away from where they were standing. There were a couple of girls involved in some sort of fight, and it looked as if it were beginning to turn rough.

"Hey, settle down, break it up!" Zero yelled at them, striding over with a mean look on his face, and his hands twitching. What he wouldn't give to just pull out his gun and shoot it in the air. That would sure get all these girls to shut up.

"You bitch!" one of the girls yelled, and latched onto the other's hair, pulling them down towards the ground. Snatching out a hand, Zero grabbed the arm that was currently wound into the other girl's hair.

"Step back," he growled menacingly, staring the girl down.

The girl merely screamed at him and tried to pull her hand back off him. But she had not yet released the other girl's hair, and as a result, pulled her even harder down. The other girl answered with her own scream, her arms flailing, looking for something to hit.

They hit Zero. In the crotch.

Eyes watering and his stomach clenching, Zero instinctively used his total strength on the girl, his hand tightening painfully around her arm and jerking her violently away from the other. The girl cried out again, this time in pain, and as a reflex she dropped the other girl's hair.

She looked at Zero, her free hand wound around his which was wound around her arm. Tears were beginning to well in her eyes, and she was trying to pull his hand off her. But he couldn't let go. All his pent up anger towards these girls were being vented onto this one girl because of the unbearable pain in his groin, and he couldn't pull back now.

Now she began throwing her other fist against his chest, the tears streaming down her face. He could vaguely hear her crying, "Let go, stop, you're hurting me," and some part of his mind was yelling at himself to stop. But the pain and anger had brought out the more animalistic side to Zero that was slowly awakening since he had changed. And her struggles were turning this side on even more, making the ex-human want nothing more than to pull this girl aside and drop his fangs into her neck.

Having only just really noticed what was going on, Yuki ran over and tried to jump between Zero and the girl, her small hands trying to pry the girl from his grasp. "Zero, stop!" she yelled.

Yuki will always believe that Zero let go as soon as he heard her voice. Zero will know it was because he was finally about to throw up after having been socked in the balls so hard. Dropping the girls arm, he spun around quickly and foolishly moved faster than most humans to throw up in semi-privacy, away from the crowd of now hysterical girls.

After moving away from the little mess he had created, Zero crouched in that one place for awhile, eyes closed, trying to ignore the throbbing in his groin and the newly awakened blood lust. He couldn't yet feel terrible for this thirst. Not until the more prominent pain had subsided, anyway. He'd feel guilty when he was a bit more comfortable.

"Zero? Are you alright?" It was Yuki. She came and crouched down beside him, her hand resting reassuringly on his shoulder.

"Not quite," he mumbled.

"What's wrong? You're not hungry are you?" she asked, a frown falling over her pretty face, and concern in her voice.

Zero gave a dry laugh. "It's not quite that. I just got punched in the balls, and that hurts quite a bit, you see."

"Oh. Well, do you wanna stay over here? It's just that the Night Class are about to come out. But if you're not feeling fine, you're right to stay here."

Opening his eyes, Zero realised darkness had now fallen. He would have loved to just stay still for possibly the next half hour, but he couldn't leave all those screaming girls to Yuki. Getting slowly to his feet, he tried to smile at Yuki. "I better come help, those girls are wild tonight."

"Well at least they're all terrified to make you angry now. That girl's arm is already starting to bruise," she joked, standing up the join Zero.

His smile dropped. "That's not funny, Yuki."

**

Zero stood in front of the mirror, scowling at his reflection. He didn't know why he was obsessing over this, even if was just a little bit. He hated this stupid dance. Every year, it was among one of the things he dreaded the most. Well, at least they didn't have to set up for it this year.

He ran his hands through his hair one last time, and then turned, reaching for the light switch and about to head over to the hall where the dance was being held. But then the little box caught his eye. Yuki had dropped it off earlier that day, saying that every male student had to wear it, and that Zero too should wear it, to set an example. And then she had mumbled something about it making Zero look even better.

With a small smile on his lips, Zero returned to the mirror and fastened the rose into his jacket. He really hated having to do this. But it made Yuki happy. And what made Yuki happy usually made Zero happy. Well, as long as it didn't have anything to do with that damned pureblood.

Exiting his room, the scowl back in place, he began walking towards the hall. A lot of the students had been giving him a wide berth today, after what happened yesterday. He knew most students were afraid of him before, but now word had spread quickly about his temper, and everyone seemed to think he was some sort of psychopath, and were afraid to cross paths with him and upset him. And that suited Zero just fine.

"Ah! Zero! My darling son!"

As he approached the hall, Zero cringed. "I am not your son," he said quietly to the Chairman as he walked up the steps.

Cross pouted at him. "Why do you insist on saying such harsh things?"

"Because they're true," the teen replied tiredly.

"You're breaking my heart."

"You'll get over it."

"Yuuuuuki!"

"See?" Zero sighed, and looked around for the source of the Chairman's distraction. Stepping gracefully up the steps was Yuki in a long, form fitting, dark green dress smiling sheepishly at the Chairman. And any further sarcastic remarks Zero was going to make left him as his breath caught in his throat.

Once the Chairman had finished fussing over her, and had run off after being distracted by something else, Zero took advantage of the fact he and Yuki were alone, and smiled at her. "You look nice," he said.

She pulled a face and tugged at the top of the strapless gown. "I can barely breathe; I think Yori did the tie too tight at the back." And then she stood back, smiling at him and casting an eye over him. "You wore the rose."

"Everyone has to wear them," he replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I like it best on you, though."

Beaming on the inside, Zero just shrugged again and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking out over at some arriving students. In this group was the girl from yesterday that Zero had roughly handled. She was wearing jewellery in an attempt to hide the now yellow bruise on her arm, but Zero could still get a good view of it, and he quickly looked away. He didn't want yet another reminder of the monster that he is. The girl also tried to avoid his eye, and walked as far away from him as possible.

"Don't worry about her. You had to break that fight up somehow," Yuki said quietly.

"I didn't have to do it that way. I lost control, Yuki. I can't do that," he replied sourly.

"Just stop beating yourself up about it."

Easy for her to say, he thought.

"Kaname!"

Zero jerked his head up to look at the approaching vampires. And when he looked over at Yuki, she had a ridiculous smile on her face. Had she even smiled at Zero like that? He couldn't remember. But she was definitely smiling at the pureblood like he made her happier than anything else.

They ascended the steps, Kuran in the lead, his minions following wordlessly behind. And when they reached the top, Kuran took Yuki's hand in his, and raised it to his lips, brushing it gently with a kiss. Zero wanted to gag, but instead he just gave an uncomfortable cough and looked out over the gardens.

Kuran ignored him, continuing to smile at Yuki in a way that wanted to make Zero punch him. "You look breathtaking, this evening, my Yuki," Kuran said to her quietly, at which she quickly blushed.

_I thought that first!_ Zero thought to himself indignantly.

"Thank you very much, Kaname," she replied, the smile on her face making Zero hurt. Why wouldn't she look at him like that?

"Do you think you could join me inside for a couple of dances?" Even his voice made Zero want to hurt him.

"Ah, Yuki, we have prefect duties," Zero butted in. It didn't really matter, he could do it on his own. He just didn't want her close to the pureblood. He'd rather she not even be in the same room, actually.

The smile Kuran threw at Zero infuriated him. "You don't really need to worry about that this evening. I'll make sure my fellow Night Class students are on their best behaviour. You may as well lighten up and have some fun, Kiriyuu."

Zero seethed. Did Kuran just insult him somehow? That bastard. And while Zero was busy wondering what the insult was exactly, so that he could reply someway, the pureblood breezed past with Yuki's hand still in his own, followed by the other Night Class students.

After deciding that standing out the front on his own seemed a bit stupid now, Zero made his way inside the hall as well, filling a plastic cup with punch so that he looked like he had something to do, other than stand around glaring at everyone. He was really just glaring at the one person though.

In the middle of the floor were Yuki and Kuran. He held her like a perfect gentleman would, his hand on her lower back, and a good distance between them. But Zero still did not trust the vampire. It was the way he was smiling down at her, the way she was smiling back at him. It was the way that every now and again he'd catch Kuran's lips moving, probably with a compliment or something smooth like that, and then see her laugh and blush at the comment. It was the way at which she looked so at ease with him.

Zero went to take another sip of his drink, but only came up with air. He had finished it. He probably should be doing something other than standing around moodily staring at Yuki, though. However, moving around the hall, Zero noticed that he wasn't the only on staring angrily at that couple. Many of the girls were casting jealous looks towards Yuki, wondering how she managed to get a dance with him, and wondering when Kuran was going to give her up so that they could make a move.

He glanced back at them just in time to see Kuran pull her a little closer, her cheeks flushing at the move, but her smile suggesting she loved it. The plastic cup in Zero's hand made loud cracking noises as he tightened his fist around it, and some of the students stepped away from him, throwing him wary glances.

He needed some fresh air.

Disposing of the now broken cup in a nearby bin, Zero stepped out onto one of the terraces. They were off limits to the students, but Zero didn't care. He needed to be alone, without people staring at him, judging him, afraid that he was going to attack them at any moment.

He knew that he should be upset that that's what people thought. It was only further proof that he was turning into the monster he feared he was becoming. But he didn't care about that right now. For some reason, he just felt upset that Yuki would go off so quickly with Kuran, and not spend more time with Zero.

It wasn't as if it were just Zero jumping to conclusions about how she felt about him. She was always there when he needed her to be, and always saying that she would be. She was always acting like seeing him happy was the most important thing to her, and she had even given him this rose to wear tonight in his jacket. True, every male student had to wear one to the dance, but in previous years she had just attached it at the dance. This year, she had given it to him before hand. Kind of like how in those TV shows the boy always gives their date a corsage, but the other way around.

And then she had given him a compliment tonight. And not like the usual things she says, like how he's not a monster, he's not as terrible a person he thinks he is. No, she had complimented on the way he had looked. That had to count for something.

And if she had wanted to dance, she still could have asked Zero. Just because he had always said he didn't like dancing, didn't mean he wouldn't like it if his partner was Yuki. On the contrary, he would love it if his partner were Yuki. Maybe he should just ask her himself though. It's not her fault that she not ask him, he had always been so vocal about his dislike towards dancing.

Yeah, he should ask her to dance. And she'd have to have a break from Kuran sometime; you can't spend all night dancing with the same guy.

Stepping back into the main room, Zero felt better. He just needed to be more assertive about it all, he couldn't expect Yuki to know what he was thinking all the time. Scanning the room for her, he panicked a little when he couldn't find her right away.

_Calm down_, he thought. _She's only small, she wouldn't be hard to miss_. Looking around again, this time more carefully, he thought that maybe she was not in here. After a third scan, he was certain. And with a strange jolt in his stomach at the thought, he realised Kuran was not here either.

Zero urged himself to calm down. It was probably all perfectly innocent. He knew Yuki liked the night sky, so chances were good that she decided to get some fresh air, just like he had done, and slipped out onto one of the terraces, just like he had done. He began to walk around to each of the tall glass doors, peering inconspicuously through them.

He had just about reached the last when he did see something outside. Stepping back so as to look without necessarily being seen by the people outside, he felt his face crease into a frown. They were there alright. This time there was nothing gentlemanly about the way Kuran was holding her. They were pressed close to each other, her head resting against his chest, her eyes closed and a damned stupid little smile on her face, like she had never been happier.

Her arms were wrapped tightly around his back, and his were wrapped around her, resting just above her arse. He was stroking her lower back gently as they swayed slowly to the beat of the music that must have been travelling out through the door.

Zero felt the bile rise up in his throat. He couldn't believe how peaceful she looked. But that's how peaceful she should look all the time, Zero thought sadly. She had never looked that peaceful with him.

Then their swaying slowed and they pulled apart a little. Zero felt compelled to watch the change of scene. He watched the way Kuran said something to her, and she replied. A few more words passed between them, and his hands moved to her shoulders. Zero felt better about them being there – they weren't just resting about her arse anymore.

Then Kuran began stroking her cheek with one of these hands, a soft smile on his dopey looking face. The look on Yuki's face was a little uncertain, but it mostly looked the same as Kuran's. A few more words were said, and Kuran's face got closer to hers.

Zero wanted to burst out there, yelling. But he felt rooted to the spot. Then, after a split moment's hesitation, Kuran covered the last bit of space between them and touched his lips to hers.

Zero felt his face drop and his knees weaken. His heart dropped. He wasn't sure exactly sure why, but seeing this kiss ripped him apart.

Of course she would choose Kuran over him. He had been over this many times. Kuran always came out as a better choice.

Turning away slowly, he headed towards the main doors. He didn't know where he was going to go, or what he was going to do. He just couldn't be around all these people anymore. He couldn't be anywhere near another vampire, especially that infuriating one that was currently kissing the love of Zero's life.

Stepping into the cold night air, Zero couldn't really remember Yuki ever looking that happy. And it tore him up inside. He hated that he couldn't just be happy for her, but he knew why it upset him so much. It was because she had never acted that happy around Zero. It was because he knew that she could never act that happy around him.

And that was why he hated Kaname Kuran. Because that pureblood was everything Zero could never; had everything Zero could never have.

* * *

I love writing this sort of stuff  
^_^

I mean...  
Poor Zero. Why would I even put him through such stuff??


	4. Pride

**Vampire Myth  
- Pride -**

Oh my god, I am so sorry for the epically slow update. I just haven't felt much like writing.

I like to think this chappie is a nicer one than the previous angsty ones. Maybe not right at the beginning, but it all ends happily ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor any of the characters in the following story. Yep. I'm not gonna lie.

* * *

Zero sits in the moonlight, his back resting against a tree, his hands twirling his Bloody Rose between them. The still night air carries the sounds of the dance – upbeat music playing and people chattering – as it nears its final hour. He had probably spent more than half the dance here, absently playing with his gun, dwelling on what he had seen between Yuki and Kuran.

He couldn't explain the feelings the sight of them locked together like that had brought up. Of course, intense jealousy was way up there, but there were others. He felt protective, angry, sad, weak, pathetic, and lost, just to name a few.

But most of all, he felt betrayed and hurt by Yuki, who, no more than a few days ago, had held him lovingly against her as she whispered to him that she would always be there for him, never leave him alone.

He stopped playing with his gun, gripping it tightly between his two hands, his knuckles turning white from the effort. What if she had said something similar to this to Kuran before? Zero wouldn't have picked Yuki to be the type of girl to do that sort of thing, to string others along like that, but what if she had? He had spent the past few days feeling pretty good because of that comment. What if it had only been a lie, or worse, something she had already said to someone else?

His hands began to nervously play with the gun again, twirling it between them and passing it back and forth anxiously. It was obvious that Yuki felt something for that smooth pureblood vampire. How could she not? Almost every other girl in the school did, and he hadn't even paid them the same sort of attention.

Zero could see it in the way she looked at Kuran and in the way she looked she spoke of Kuran. Did she ever look that way when she looked at Zero? He couldn't be sure, but he thought that it was probably a 'no'.

He grew tired of the Bloody Rose, dropping it with a soft thud between his legs. Yuki meant the world to him; he hated himself every time he marred the soft skin of her neck, every time he caressed and held her fragile little body as he tainted her with his fangs and touches. He didn't want to do these things, and yet he didn't want to imagine the pain if he didn't do these things.

"There you are."

Zero glanced up, his tired eyes picking up on a small figure as it moved between the trees to his position. He could pick up her scent before his eyes registered that it was Yuki approaching him.

"I wanted to have a dance with you, but I couldn't find you. And after a while I thought that if I wanted to have at least the last dance with you, then I should probably come find you," she said softly, a sweet smile on her face as she stood before him. "I'm not really all that surprised to find you moping out here."

"I'm not moping," he mumbled, looking away from her smiling face. He couldn't bear to look at it, knowing that it wasn't long ago that Kuran's lips were against Yuki's own soft ones.

"Oh, okay then, whatever you say. Mr. Mopey," she added with a playful wink.

Zero ignored her.

Yuki sighed, and then held out her hand.

"What are you doing?" Zero questioned.

"If you listen carefully, you can hear the music from the dance. And if my calculations are correct, it's probably up to the last dance. Now, I made up my mind, and I decided that I wanted to have the last dance with you."

"Why?"

She sighed again, reaching down and grabbing his large hand between her two smaller ones. "Just get up and dance with me, Zero. Geez, I never would have thought it would be this hard to get a guy to dance."

With a slight smile Zero stood, holding tightly onto Yuki's hand in his grasp and wrapping his other arm around her waist as her free hand moved to sit on his shoulder. Now that Zero concentrated, he could hear the music as it was carried through the still night air. He could block out all the other unwanted sounds, hearing only the beat of the music and the soft breathing of Yuki.

Now would be a good time to say something nice, he thought. But what? He had already commented on her overall look this evening. Could he do it again? Girls liked it when someone noticed things like that, didn't they?

"You really do like nice tonight, Yuki," he mumbled quietly, enjoying the little puffs of air that hit the exposed skin of his neck as she breathed. He could even feel her blush.

"Yeah, you said that," she mumbled back sheepishly.

"Well, I still mean it."

They lapsed into silence, holding each other as they swayed softly in the dark. Zero was no longer really listening to the music, no longer really moving to it. Rather he was just moving, savouring the feeling of Yuki in his arms, moving the same way he was.

If she hadn't meant those things she had said to him the other day, why would she have sought him out like this, just for one pathetic dance? She must have been speaking the truth. She had left Kuran to look for him. Kuran, who she had been dancing with like this, who had had his arms around her, his lips against hers.

Zero stopped, dropping his arms by his side.

"What's wrong?" Yuki questioned, her face creasing with concern.

"Wouldn't you just prefer to be Kuran? You seemed quite happy dancing with him before," Zero spat sourly.

"What?"

"I saw you two, dancing on one of the balconies. You seemed to be having a rather good time with him."

Now she flushed, looking away embarrassed. "Zero," she began tentatively, but he stopped her.

"You know what? I don't care. I hope that you'll be happy with him. What would you need someone like me around for when you've got someone like that?"

"That's not true!" She snapped vehemently.

Zero was a little taken aback. He had never really seen her get too worked up over anything before, but now she looked rather upset by his comment. "Yuki?" he questioned, curious as to where this outburst came from.

She looked embarrassed again, but determinedly she took his hands in hers. "Zero, you are my best friend. You're always there for me, no matter what has happened, and you know that I'm always going to be there for you. I don't know what I would do if one day you weren't there anymore. No one else understands me like you do, and I feel most comfortable around you compared to anyone else." She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his chest so that her next words were muffled. "I always want you to be in my life. I get upset even if I just think about you not being here anymore."

Zero stood with the small girl wrapped around him, just looking into the darkness, unable to comprehend anything. "Yuki?" he mumbled, looking down at the mop of brown hair against his chest.

She pulled herself tighter against him, holding onto him desperately almost. "I'm sorry," she mumbled back, her head seeming to bury even further into his chest.

Her body began to shake slightly, and Zero felt as if the front of his shirt were getting damp. "Yuki, are you crying?" he asked, shocked.

She sniffled, shaking her head against him.

Sighing, Zero lifted his arms and wrapped them around her slender frame, lowering his head to rest atop hers. "Don't cry. You cry over too many things," he said exasperatedly.

Yuki pulled away, her hand wiping at her eyes, a small, sad smile on her face. "I know that I'm probably just being selfish, wanting both you and Kaname in my life. And I know that I'm definitely dreaming when I hope that maybe you two could get along. But..." She faltered, her gaze shifting down to the ground. "You're both important to me, you both mean so much to me. But if it makes you feel any better, these days you are a bigger part of my life than him. Like, you mean more to me than he does..."

Her face lifted and she looked Zero in the eyes again, her own eyes tearing up again. Zero only stared back at her, desperate to hear more, desperate to hear what she would say next.

And then she smiled. "It's like, he's my past, but you're my future," she whispered.

"Yuki," Zero whispered, feeling a small smile come over his face. And this made hers brighten even more.

"I love when you smile. You look so gorgeous when you do," she said warmly.

Zero pulled her into an embrace, his arms tightening around her. His heart felt as if it were fit to burst; it was as if Yuki had just chosen him over the pureblood. And while he didn't think he deserved it, it pleased him to the core of his being. She would rather him, than that smarmy, smug pureblood vampire. She was in his arms now, after having left that charismatic vampire, because she would rather be here with him.

"I don't deserve you," he mumbled.

"Sure you do," she mumbled back.

"Well I have no idea what it is that I've done to deserve this."

"How about everything you've been through in the past few years? Not to bring back bad memories or anything, but you had everything taken from you, had your world turned upside down," she said quietly. And, as she pulled back slightly to look at his face, she laughed. "It's about time something good came your way."

"It's not a joke, Yuki. You really are something good in my life. But it still doesn't mean I deserve it."

She sighed, still smiling up at him patiently. "Don't you get it, Zero? Surviving through all that hardship is what lets you deserve something good. Coming out of alive at the end of it all is what lets you deserve it."

Zero closed his eyes, trying to stave off the tears from welling up in his eyes. He was a man, damn it; men didn't cry.

He felt Yuki snake her arm around his neck, resting at the back of his head, and pull his head down to rest his forehead against hers. "You should stop talking yourself down so much. Even after turning to a vampire, you've still fought against yourself to stay such a good person. And your will to not harm me proves that you're still a good person, despite what you think. I have to literally force you to take my blood, even though most of the time you're bordering on desperate. Lesser men would have caved long ago."

Zero opened his eyes, looking into hers. "You always work so hard to protect me," she said with a soft smile. "You work so hard to make sure I stay safe, even from you, no matter how hard it is on you. All these things mean you deserve good things to happen."

Yuki smiled wider as she watched a tear drop from Zero's eye, pleased that her words were maybe finally getting through to him. She leant forward and kissed it off his cheek, feeling her own eyes welling with fresh tears. "I just wish that you could see what I see every day. I wish that you could love yourself the way that I love you."

Zero pulled away and blinked, trying to comprehend what it was that she just said. "What?" he eventually managed.

She flushed again, but did not look away, her eyes boring into his. "I love you?"

"Why?"

Yuki sighed again. "Zero, how could I not? Have you not been listening to anything that I've been saying?"

"Yes, but..." he started.

"So? Just accept that they are my feelings. Don't question them. Don't say that they're wrong, or that you're undeserving. I have just explained everything."

"Yuki," he murmured, pulling her back against him, burying his head on top of hers.

He still didn't feel like he necessarily deserved her, felt that his ultimate sin of taking her life blood from her disallowed it. But he was grateful for her forgiveness about it. Hell, he was just grateful for her. He knew that if it weren't for her, he would have given up long ago. But she kept him going, not just because she so readily supplied her blood, but because she also gave him support and love, where most people would have just turned him away.

He knew that she had not rejected Kuran in anyway, and she hadn't outright said she chose Zero over the pureblood, but it was enough for him for now. Just to hold her in his arms, knowing she at least preferred him over Kuran was enough.

He lowered his head even further to place a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you," he whispered, pulling away.

She smiled up at him, her arms still comforting around his shoulders and neck, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "No, thank you," she murmured back, stroking his neck and playing with his hair.

He wanted to question why she would be thanking him. But he just figured that she would sigh and say that she had already explained everything, and that would only ruin the peaceful atmosphere that had fallen around them.

So he instead dipped his head, brushing his lips over hers. "We should probably go back to the dance now. The Chairman is most likely freaking out that we're nowhere to be found for the end of the dance," he murmured, caressing her back lovingly.

Yuki laughed softly, and rested her head back against his chest. "In a second. We've still got at least one more dance."

Listening again to the surroundings, Zero could indeed still hear the music playing off in the distance. "But I thought you said before that it was the last dance?"

"I lied," she said simply, turning to smile up at him. "I didn't think you would dance with me unless you really thought it was the last one."

Sighing, Zero replied, "Yuki, I would have danced with you anyway. You didn't have to lie about it."

"Oh well. What's done is done. Just be happy that there is still more," she said cheerfully, and dropped her arms back down to sit more comfortably at his waist as she leant back into his chest.

Smiling at no one in particular, Zero laid his head back over hers, holding her close and feeling a little pleased with himself after hearing all that she had said about him, even though he didn't really believe all that she had said. But he was happy that she believed it.

They weren't really dancing to the soft music that even Zero had to concentrate in order to hear. They weren't even swaying anymore, as they had been before. They just stood, locked in an embrace as Zero tried to memorise the way her soft body felt against his and the way her heart pounded just below his. He wouldn't mind if this moment were to stretch on forever, and there were no interruptions from the outside world, if it were just the two of them, standing here amongst the trees.

Zero was reluctant to let go when he heard the air still as the music came to a stop. Even Yuki appeared sorry that she had to pull away. But, as usual, she held a brave smile on her little face. "Well, we better get back, see if the Chairman is going to want help getting everyone out."

"Yuki," Zero called to her as she turned around.

"Yeah?"

Reaching out his hand he held her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her again, this one lasting a bit longer than the previous one. She was still smiling as they both pulled away, and her hand moved up to her face to grasp his.

"Come on, enough dawdling," she teased, stepping away and letting their joined hands to drop between them.

As they walked back Zero felt happy, something he hadn't really felt for years.

Maybe he was not the monster he always believed himself to be. Maybe he was loveable. And just maybe, that this girl he had just now held in his arms, loved him the same way that he loved her.

* * *

Awwww.  
It could be cuter. But then it threatens to get corny. And I absolutely despise corny. I mean, I won't buy my mother birthday cards because they're all so stupid and corny.

I'm not going to promise an update any time soon. Because this is what I do: struggle over the first few paragraphs of a new chapter, then finally settle into a rhythm. Finish the chapter. Get all excited that I finished. Go to start the next, and struggle over the opening of the next. I hate starting new things, it just doesn't come. So then, I'll give up for a bit, then one day come back, and it will all just tumble out. And so on and so forth.

I'd love to hear from you, lovely readers, just to let me know how I'm doing. Because some things I like, others I don't. So, what do you like and don't like? Feedback is awesome for progression :P


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